Crossroads
by Das ErisedDesire
Summary: Completed. This is a Holiday story. I would say it is a one shot, but I posted it as multiple chapters. Nick & Judy get a very special assignment, but the unexpected happens on route. There is a bit of angst in this as well. I am working on a sequel about how I originally planned for this to go. Cover image is property of the International Culture Center
1. The road

I am very sorry this is so short. I have much more written (on paper) it is just not typed up yet and it is late where I live. I need my sleep. I should be able to post more of this tomorrow. I started this story with an idea in my head but this just went a totally different direction when I put pen to paper. I f you see any mistakes, feel free to point them out. I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Zootopia and no copyright infringement is intended. All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended. Nor is any money made off of this

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A very long time ago, in a land far, far away, there was a city. And this city was called Zootopia. The date? (Wednesday) December 14, 2016. This story starts in the morning, though not to early, mind you, for the heroes of this story are at work when this begins.

"Alright, alright!" Chief Bogo bellowed as he tossed the stack of folders onto the podium. He pulled out his reading glasses and put them on. I have two things on the docket today. I have a special assignment." "It wouldn't happen to be a raise and a day off?" "Shut it Wilde. This is a very hazardous assignment. Those assigned to it may never be the same. And as such, I will only assign my best officers and any officers that have annoyed me recently." Bogo was looking at Nick as he said the last part. He starred calling out the names of those who were assigned to it. Officers whose names were called for up and and grabbed the folder before leaving the bullpen. " … and finally, Officers Hopps and Wilde." I immediately hopped down from the chair to get the folder from Chief Bogo, but Nick managed to get there first. He have me a sly smile as he held it above his head, so that it would be out of my reach. I briefly returned the sky smile before I stomped on his paw. He instinctively bent over to grab his sore paw with both of his front paws, which brought the folder easily into my reach. I snatched it out of his paws as I continued walking past him. I had an extra bounce in my step as I headed out the door. The smile on my face widened as I heard Nick quietly say "you sly bunny." The other officers had a quick laugh at Nick's expense before Bogo silenced them.

~+{}+~

"So that is our assignment?" Nick asked.

"Yup."

We were currently driving on the cruiser to our destination. "Here I thought it would be something along the lines of a gang infiltration, but not this …" Nick continued, "hey, Carrots?"

"Yes."

"We don't have to pay for all of it, do we?" "Nope. Bogo included funds for this assignment along with a strict order to save receipts and to include both the left over money and the receipts in the report," "When you were young and dreamed of becoming a cop, did you ever imagine you would have an assignment like this?"

"Well, I knew I would at one point or another, end up with a P.R. assignment, but I never imagined this as a P.R. assignment."

After this, I found myself no longer listening to her as I was just staring at the cute little bunny sitting next to me. I had fallen in love with her when I had first met her. You could even say it was love at first sight for me. I ended up doing something that day that I had never done before; I gave a cop my real name. As much as I wanted to be with her, I knew that it would never happen. After all, she's a bunny and I'm a fox, which are (if you hadn't figured this out already,) different species. Not only are we different species, but she is a prey animal and I am a predator. And even worse is that in ancient times, foxes used to hunt and eat rabbits.

I knew that Nick had stopped listening to me a long time ago, but I continued to ramble on, because in the state Nick was currently in, he was unable to notice, as far as I could tell, me stealing glances of him while I drove. The red light of the intersection that I was approaching turned green.

~+{}+~

This intersection changed our lives. It was the beginning. It was the many things were the same as they were before and yet, they were totally and irreversibly different. I couldn't remember the sights of the actual event, but I sure did remember the sounds. I could recall what I saw afterwards.

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Before I get serious, I hope that you all had a happy and merry holidays.


	2. Explanation

I originally planned to type up more for this chapter, but I felt that this was a better spot for a chapter break. The way this part is written in my notebooks is quite a bit different then the way it is here. I usually write about 6+ pages on paper that later get churned into a single chapter. Here I (I am using a small note book for this) used only 2 pages of my hand written pages which is about 400 words and I ended up with this. I hope you enjoy.

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The screech of the tires, not even a second before the earsplitting bang. It was followed by the screech of metal rubbing against metal. The crumpling of metal, the snap of breaking plastic. The rip of fabric. The shattering of glass. Screaming pierced threw all of these sounds. The airbags deploying. (After this, I can remember what I saw.) I fought against the airbag, somehow managing to deflate it. I unbuckled my seat belt and gabbed the radio. At this point I felt like my head was spinning. I pushed the talk button on the radio. "Officer Wilde to dispatch. Our cruiser has been hit at th-." I dropped the mic and put my front paws on the center console, trying to brace myself as my head started to spin faster. I was extremely confused to what had happened. I also c.f. very disoriented. The ringing in my ears didn't help either. I looked up, expecting to see Judy, but to my shock, nothing was there. Not even the driver's seat or door was there. I looked to my left, where the back seat was supposed to be, but it too was gone. From what I could tell, all that was left of the cruiser was from the front bumper to the dash, the center console, and the passenger seat and door. Everything else was just gone. I crawled over the console. From there I navigated through the debris until I was free. I scanned my surroundings. I could see mammals on the surrounding sidewalks many of which had there phones out. Some were holding them out, most likely recording. Others had their phone by their ear. On the corner closest to me there was a group of mammals grouped around one of the bushes. I wasn't sure why, but something drew me to this bush. I slowly managed to walk over to it. As I approached, mammals moved out of the way letting me approach. There was a grey rabbit sprawled face down on the bush. The bunny was dressed in blue. I recognized the bunny at once. It was Judy. I opened my mouth to try to call out to her, but my voice refused to make a sound. A sudden wave of dizziness and sickness assaulted me, forcing me to my knees. I saw the bush that Judy lay motionless looked like it had been dipped in red paint. I knew that it wasn't paint, but Judy's blood. This caused my stomach was churn violently I could see blackness start to creep in the edges of my vision. I could see a great plains wolf approach me. Caught a glance of my chest. My uniform was torn in many places and soaked with blood, my blood. I collapsed onto all fours as the darkness started to overtake me.

I was running late for work because I had missed the bus. I was jogging down the street in a futile attempt to make it on time. I mentally groaned as I saw the light change. The way I needed to cross was now going to have traffic going across. I saw a police car enter the intersection.I also saw a giraffe sized semi truck coming straight for them. I froze as I saw the Police cruiser get T-boned by the semi. The Police car was demolished. Something came flying from the crash nearly hitting me before coming to rest on the bush right next to me. I looked at what had almost hit me. It was a bunny and by the looks of it, a police officer. I stood frozen in shock at what had just transpired. I watched a fox emerge from the wreckage and stumble over. I could see that he was also wearing a police officer's uniform. He fell to his knees next to his partner. I found myself approaching the fox. "Are you ok?" I called out. The fox didn't respond. He fell to all fours, seconds before he collapsed completely. I bent down and rolled him onto his back and checked for a pulse. It was slow but steady. He was just out cold.

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Yes, I know. These chapters are quite short. I should be able to give you a longer chapter tomorrow because I have to take my kids to some appointments, and that means waiting. So I will have a lot more time to type than usually. I am using my old laptop with the rally messed up screen with a lot of dead pixels, so there might be a lot of mistakes. If you find any, feel free to point them out. It is greatly appreciated. As always, till my insanity returns,

Erised on and Erised out.


	3. Waiting

For once, I don't have much to say. I hope you enjoy.

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I awoke in the hospital. I only had minor cuts, scrapes, and bruises. The doctor also said I had a concussion. They let me wait in the waiting room so that I could hear any news about Judy as fast as possible. My things had been returned to me because I was only being kept for observation since all of my physical wounds, excluding my concussion, were minor and the hospital staff had done as much as they could for them. While I was sitting in the waiting room, I couldn't help but remembering back to my hustling days. If I hung around one place, mammal tended to get suspicious and call the cops on me. But now, since I had become a cop it was different, well, different in a way. Mammal tended to still get suspicious if I hung around at one place. If I was in uniform they would be worried they had broken a law. If I wasn't in uniform, well, it was much like back in my hustling days. I was wearing my uniform as I sat here waiting. Albeit, it was dirty, torn and had stains on it from the crash, but it was still a police uniform. This morning my badge had looked as new as the day I had graduated from the academy. Not a single scratch upon it. But now, it was dinged, had both deep and light scratches, it was also slightly bent, and it was splattered with my blood. Sitting here with only my thoughts made me face the thoughts I had kept trying to avoid, deny and put off. Specifically the growing affection and love I was feeling for the cute little bunny named Judy Hopps. I vowed to myself that if she survived , and the feelings were mutual, I would ask her to marry me regardless of what other mammal may think. And if she didn't return the feelings, I would dedicate myself to being there for her and to make sure she would always be happy. I could live with myself knowing that she was happy. The buzzing of my cellphone interrupted my musings. I pulled it out. It was not a number I recognized, but I answered it anyways. "Hello?"

"Hello? Is this Nicholas Wilde?"

My heart started racing. An unknown number calls me and knows my name. Was it someone from my past, back when I was a hustler? Or when I worked for Mr. Big? I decided to take a chance and reply. "Sorry about that. This is Nicholas Wilde speaking."

"Oh, good. I am Stiza Cofe with the Zootopia Central Hospital. I am calling you because, as I'm sure you are well aware, you are listed as Officer Judy Hopps' emergency contact. There was a situation earlier this morning that resulted in her ending up in the hospital. She is in critical condition and is still in the operating room. I was hoping you would be able to come down here. If the worst happens, we may need you to make some difficult decisions, and these types of things must be in person. There is a good chance that she might not make it."

I couldn't stop the tears that had started to form. I could have my fears that she might not make it, but to have a medical mammal confirm them was worse than anything I could possibly could imagine. But at the same time I was surprised. A part of me feared that, well, she was still scared of me, a fox, but this, this proved the opposite. This proved that she trusted me. This proved that she trusted me beyond all reason and beyond all shadow of doubt. By putting me down as her emergency contact, she showed that she trusted and believed in my even at her most vulnerable, that I would make the right decisions for her regarding her health when she was unable to.

"When you arrive, come in the E.R. and you can find me standing to the right of the reception desks. I am a black panther."

I immediately looked over to where she said she would be. I easily spotted the black panther standing there with a phone by her ear. I also could see that she had her eyes glued to the door, most likely waiting to see a Nicholas Wilde walk through them. I guessed that she also assumed that I would be a rabbit. "Got it." I said, hanging up. If she had anything else to say it could wait for the amount of time it took for me to walk the few yards that separated us. I got up and slowly padded over. I wished to have walked faster but my bruised and sore muscles wouldn't allow me to. She saw me approach and gave me a forced smile. At first I thought the smile was forced because I was a fox, or it could have been also because of my appearance, but I quickly realized from the awareness that showed in her eyes that neither guess was correct. It was because of exhaustion nearly every mammal feels after a long, hard shift at work with a very tough emotional pressure for this conversation she was about to have with Nicholas Wilde about Judy's plight.

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To answer the guest that reviewed. Yes I do know that a oneshot is a single chapter. The reason that this is multiple chapters is because I wanted to release it as soon as possible and I am unable to get much time to type up the chapters I write. I am glad to know that I am not the only one who doesn't like it when people call a multi chapter fic, a oneshot. The reason I decided to still call it a one shot was because i do not plan on continuing it or connecting it to any other stores I will write, other than some references to some characters. I hope this might clear this up. But since I am not sure how many chapters this will be, I will change this from being called a oneshot any way, Thank you for taking the time to review. I really do appreciate any and all reviews. I hope all of you have been enjoying this story.

Till my insanity returns,

Erised on, and Erised out.


	4. Purple Carrots - Is this the end?

This might be the end of this. I hope you enjoy.

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I was sitting by her bed waiting for her to wake up. The doctors had finished operating on her a few hours prior. The other officers in precinct one had stopped by. Even the Chief had visited. Some of the officers had come of their own accord, the rest had been, as Clawhauser had put it, 'encouraged to come if they valued their lives'. Clawhauser had also made sure all of the officers had brought either a card or flowers. He even denied the chief from visiting her until he brought her one or the other. I glanced at her and seeing that she was still asleep, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small black velvet box. I had Clawhauser go to my apartment and pick it up for me. I opened it revealing a simple gold ring. The band was a thin 18 carat gold. The main stone was a 7 carat purple diamond. It was the same shade as her eyes. On either side was a small 3 carat emerald and on either side of the emeralds were a carrot shaped orange diamond. The emerald were the leafy green tops of the carrots. I closed the lid and slid it back into my pocket with a sigh. It was a custom made ring. It would only ever belong on her paw. When she awoke, it would be then or never. I would tell her how I feel.

Everything hurt. I opened my eyes to see a hospital room. Why am I in a hospital? The answer came as a flash of memories of the event leading up to this. In the chair pulled up close to the bed was Nick. He was slumped against the rail of my bed.. Judging by the state of his uniform, it was probably the same one that he had been wearing during the crash. A smile spread across my muzzle as I watched Nick as he slept. I wanted to tell him how I felt, how I was in love with him but I was too terrified to tell him. My dad always said I was a tryer and a doer, but I, for some reason, seemed to be unable to do this. There should be no reason a bunny should even attracted to a fox. I couldn't keep it in much longer. I needed to tell him. I would just have to do it and hope he felt the same. I reached out with my paw and softly pet him on his back.

I awoke to someone petting my back I looked up, right into the violet eyes of Judy. My ears perked up, smile emerging upon my muzzle. "Judy. There is something I need to tell you. It is very important. And after I am done saying it I can leave if you want me to." I held up my paw to keep her from speaking. I had known her long enough to recognize when she was about to say something. "The thing is, that I am in love with you. I fell for you the first time I laid eyes on you."

"Nick, I want you to know that I have felt the same, but I was terrified to say anything because i didn't think you would feel the same. After all I am a bunny and you are a fox. It seems so unnatural, but at the same time it just feels so right." Nick stood and pushed his chair back and kneeled. I figured he did this because then he was at eye level.

"Judy, I have known for a long time now that there is no other mammal like you and that there is no one I would rather be with." He opened his paw, revealing a small black velvet box he opened the lid revealing the most gorgeous ring. I gasped as it hit me what was happening. "And before you ask, Carrots, I had it custom made just for you. Judy Laverne Hopps, will you marry me?"

"Yes! Yes I will marry you Nick." he removed the ring from the box and slipped it onto my paw.

Epilogue:

The driver of the Giraffe sized semi truck that had hit Judy & Nick's Cruiser was arrested. He was drunk. He was also speeding 40 mph over the speed limit. He also ran a red light. Chief Bogo is very protective of all of his officers, though he wouldn't ever let them know this. He threw the entire book at the driver.

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I am not sure if there is anymore I can put for this story. I would like to know if all of you readers think I should try to continue this. And if you want me to continue this, I would like to know what direction you want me to take this. My goal for this story was to post a quick WildeHopps story for the Holidays and now that I feel that I have done that, I don't no where to go with this, if I should/need to go farther. Since this was for all of you, I want to know what you think about this. Feel free to tell me in reviews and PMs. Also if you could tell me your opinions about how the story is so far. Do you like it? Hate it?

Till my insanity returns

Erised on and Erised Out


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